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Monday, October 22, 2007 - 5:00 PM
C-5

EXPLAINING CONTRADICTORY RELATIONS BETWEEN RISK PERCEPTION AND RISK TAKING

Britain Mills, BA, Valerie Reyna, PhD, and Steven Estrada, BA. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Different studies have documented opposite relations between perceived risk and health-related risky behavior, such as unprotected sex. The present study tested a theoretical explanation that reconciles these conflicting results. Adolescents (N = 596) completed alternative measures of risk perception that differed on such dimensions as cue specificity and response format. As predicted by fuzzy-trace theory, measures that emphasized verbatim retrieval and quantitative processing produced positive correlations between perceived risk and risky behavior; risk perceptions reflected the extent to which adolescents engaged in risky behavior. In contrast, measures that assessed global gist-based judgments of risk produced negative correlations; higher risk perceptions were associated with less risk taking, a protective rather than reflective relation. Endorsement of simple, categorical principles provided the greatest protection against risk taking. Results support a dual-processes interpretation of risk perception and risk taking in which observed relations depend on verbatim vs. gist cues in questions.